


the need for speed(o)

by RosieClark



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M, Fluff, basically just pidge admiring shirtless lance, bc he looks real good without a shirt, there will be some angst later on, water polo team au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-01
Updated: 2020-04-21
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:48:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23434903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RosieClark/pseuds/RosieClark
Summary: A shout from the pool draws her attention away yet again, and she looks up just in time to catch Lance spring up from out of the water, his muscles taught, as he spikes the ball into the net with impressive strength.Her heart pounds a little faster as he resurfaces, a beaming smile on his face as his teammates cheer and clap him on the back.She shakes her head, tearing her gaze away from the celebrating boys in the pool. What is wrong with her today?
Relationships: Lance/Pidge | Katie Holt
Comments: 22
Kudos: 58





	1. one

**Author's Note:**

> Hey!!!! guess who's back with another shirtless lance fic? Spawned in the plance discord server, here is a fic that's mostly pidge admiring Lance's abs. 
> 
> This is written for the one and only lovely @suemaryrakocy (on tumblr) who y'all should check out! they make some amazing plance artwork!! 
> 
> Enjoy! 
> 
> Huge kudos to the lovely ashkazora for the beta and water polo knowledge!

"And remember," Colleen calls after her children. "We've got our exchange student coming over today, so don't be late!"

"How could we forget when we’ve been cleaning the house all week? Love you mom," Matt kisses her cheek before heading to the car. "We'll be home at six!"

Katie follows her brother, waving to her mother. "Don't worry, I'll make sure we're on time."

Colleen smiles. "That's why you're my favorite child," she says a little too loudly.

"Hey!" Matt shouts from inside the car. "I heard that!"

The two women just laugh, and Katie rushes to join her brother.

"Why am I doing this again?" she asks, sitting in the passenger seat after hauling her gear in the back. 

Matt thinks for a minute. "Because you're my sister and you love me?"

She scoffs, rolling her eyes playfully. "The real reason Matt."

"Because having volunteer hours as a sports team medic can boost your application for the Garrison internship you have your eyes on. Graduating uni with top marks isn't enough anymore. They look at your outside school life too."

"What life," She mumbles, and Matt smacks her arm lightly.

"And  _ that's _ why you're doing this. It's a win win."

She sighs, sinking further into her seat. Being the volunteer medic for her university's water polo team was definitely not now she had been planning to spend her afternoon, but Matt made a good point. She needs the credit. 

Garrison University Water Polo, or Team Voltron as they like to call themselves, is their national level team and it just so happens that both her brother and her brother's best friend are the coaches, giving Katie an easy in. 

She’d never watched Matt play before, but she assumes its similar to swimming. Her face flushes at the thought of shirtless boys her age, and she clears her throat to get her brothers attention. "Just so we're clear, they all wear shirts, right?"

"Yes Katie," Matt sighs with a roll of his eyes, pulling into the parking lot, "they all wear shirts."

Not entirely convinced but satisfied for the time being, she climbs out of the car, grabbing her duffel bag from the back seat. The thing weighed a ton, but she couldn't risk leaving anything out. Water polo was a sport foreign to her, and her brief google search had led her to believe that any, if not all, injuries should be expected.

The combined weight of her first aid duffel and her book bag must have been a thousand pounds and by the time they made it into the aquatic center and onto the deck, she was sweating buckets. The first aid bag drops to the ground with a thunk and she collapses onto the bleachers, shedding her backpack.

Matt sits beside her, checking his watch. "The boys should be wrapping up lift, so they'll be here any second."

As if on cue, a troupe of young men parade through the doors talking loudly amongst themselves. Matt stands, and she follows suit. She spots Shiro, who waves and comes to stand beside Matt, the rest of the team gathering in front of their coaches.

"Sorry I wasn't there for lift today, but I hope you worked hard."

Murmurs slowly pick up volume, and Matt clears his throat to regain their attention.

"As you know, our last first-aider quit after an... unfortunate incident." He looks pointedly at one boy, who throws his arms up in frustration.

"It was  _ one  _ time!" he sighs, and the other's pat him on the back solemnly.

Matt continues, "I expect you boys to treat our new one with nothing but the highest form of respect. She may be young, but she's one of the best first-aiders I know, so if you have any injuries, go to her, but please for gods sake, don't do anything stupid because she'll probably rip your head off. After all, she is my sister." Matt looks each of the boys in the eye before proceeding. "Team, this is Katie. Katie, meet the team.” Matt says, stepping back to present the boys standing before her.

She offers a small wave.

“Hey! I’m Hunk,” the one closest to her raises his hand in greeting, and his warm smile immediately puts her at ease. “And the one who's sulking behind me is Keith.”

"Sup," the boy with the mullet nods at her.  _ Emo, definitely emo. _

"Sven."  _ Built like a wall _ , she notes. "I'm goalie and Shiro's brother."

That explains it then. The two were very similar.

"I'm Rolo," the tallest one says before pointing to the shortest member, only a few inches taller then herself. "and this is Beezer."  _ Curious name _ , she thinks,  _ but not going to judge. _

"I'm Curtis." Curtis shrugs sheepishly. "Technically I'm too old to play, but an injury kept me from playing last season, so the board made an exception."

Katie nods, recalling something about an injured player Matt had told her last year. "Torn ACL right?" Curtis nods. "Well I'm glad you're recovered. Just try not to push yourself too hard, no need to give me extra work."

He gives her a thumbs up, and she turns her attention to the last boy to speak. He’s tall, lanky and tanned, with potential latin american roots. He gives her a lopsided grin. 

“Lance, at your service m’lady.” He swoops into a mock bow, and she tries her hardest not to blush. Matt clears his throat and Lance straightens, clearing his throat awkwardly. 

Everyone's eyes turn to her, and she takes this as her cue to introduce herself. "Hi, I'm Katie. Nice to meet everyone."

‘Alright,” Shiro claps his hands, grabbing everyone’s attention. “Let’s hop in the pool!”

The boys move as one, and Katie watches, unable to look away as they shed their shirts and pants before jumping into the pool hollering.

She glares at Matt. "You said they would be covered up!" she hisses at him. "Not on full display!" she gestures up and down at her body in exasperation. "Those are practically naked bodies!"

Matt chuckles, shaking his head and raising his arms in defense. "I said they were going to wear shirts, I just didn't say for how long." He ruffles her hair. "It's all in the fine print sister dear."

"There was no fine print! It was a freaking verbal agreement you dingus!" she whisper-shouts as Matt walks away, hands in his pockets, humming a tune to himself.

Someone clears their throat behind her and she turns.

"Hi," Lance says, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm Lance."

She raises a brow. "So you told me."

"Right," he laughs. "I just wanted to say hi and all."

_ He's cute _ , she realizes, taking in his tall frame, tousled hair, dimples and blue eyes.  _ Really cute. _

"Oh, hi." It comes out much more height pitched then she would have liked, but Lance doesn't seem to notice.

"I—"

"Lance! In the pool!" Matt calls, interrupting him.

Lance seems more reluctant to leave, but a glare from Shiro changed his mind. “I’ll see you, yeah?” he asks, offering a sheepish smile that showcased his dimples before pulling his shirt off, followed by his sweats.

Pidge tries her best not to gape, but considering the man was all smooth skin and tight, lean muscle, it was easier said than done. Her eyes trail down his broad shoulders, toned abs, the V of his hip bones—

The fact that he was only wearing a speedo that barely covered his man parts didn’t help either.

She drags her eyes back up to his face, and realizes he’s still looking at her. Her face flushes, and she prays he didn’t notice her staring. Seconds later, she clues in he’s waiting for her to reply.

“Oh yeah, someone’s gotta make sure you all stay safe!” she babbles, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “You know, sports injuries and stuff, that’s why I’m here…” she trails off into a nervous chuckle, and to her relief, Lance just gives her a smile and a thumbs up.

“Cool!”

She watches as he runs to join his team mates, slickly diving into the pool. When he resurfaces, he laughs at something Hunk says, before Matt blows his whistle, officially starting practice.

Opening up her backpack, she grabs one of her textbooks and her laptop, and begins to work on reviewing the topics for her upcoming exam. Her eyes wander up from her notes to the pool, where she spots Lance passing the ball to Keith, who scores. He lets out a whoop, before their eyes meet, and he waves. She waves back, her cheeks on fire at being caught, before returning to her studies.

A shout from the pool draws her attention away yet again, and she looks up just in time to catch Lance spring up from out of the water, his muscles taught, as he spikes the ball into the net with impressive strength.

Her heart pounds a little faster as he resurfaces, a beaming smile on his face as his teammates cheer and clap him on the back.

She shakes her head, tearing her gaze away from the celebrating boys in the pool. What is wrong with her today?

Half way into practice, she gives up studying completely. She's getting nowhere at all.

Every five minutes, her focus is drawn away from tissue and stem cells to men and abs. She decides she's just being diligent with her job, paying attention in case anyone needed medical assistance.

She was definitely  _ not  _ admiring the men in the pool, nor was she hyper focused on everything a certain tanned player did.

She is simply being a good first-aider. No harm done.

One tapped finger later, practice was finally over as Matt orders the team to hit the showers. Kate sighs in relief, reaching up to stretch her back. She watches as Matt and Shiro round up the balls, the other boys hopping out of the water and heading to the change rooms.

Lance climbs out of the pool with practiced precision, taking off his cap before running his hands through his hair in one fluid movement. He's smiling at something Hunk is saying, and he looks  _ hot _ , his muscles straining after their workout, stray water drops cascading down the ridges of his stomach.

Katie forces herself to look away, working on packing up her supplies.

"Hey!"

She looks up.  _ Lance. _

"Hi?"

"Did you see that one goal?" he asks, his eyes full of a joy she's seen many times in her brothers. She smiles at him, slightly overwhelmed by how much better he looks up close.

"Yeah, I did. Pretty impressive how you could score from so far away."

Lance shrugs, his smile widening. "They don't call me the sharpshooter for nothing!"

"The sharpshooter?" she raises a brow.

"No one calls you that!" Keith shouts from the change room entrance. "Now get your butt over here before I lock you out!"

Lance flushes. "I'll see you soon."

She tries to ignore the way her heart flutters. "Yeah, see you."

He gives her a little two finger salute before skipping off to the change rooms, hollering at Keith to hold the door.

"Good first day?" Matt asks from behind, startling her.

"It was okay," she admits, shoving the last roll of tape into her duffel bag before zipping it up.

"You're blushing." She can practically hear the smirk in his voice.

"Am not!"

Katie stands, dawning first her back pack, then the duffel bag before marching out, refusing to acknowledge her brother’s apologies.

*

Leaning against the car door, Katie lets out a long sigh, sliding down to sit on her equipment bag, her shoulder aching from her back pack. She thanks the stars the pool has its own AED, so she didn't have to bring a third bag.

The cool night air feels good on her flustered skin, the pool's humidity doing nothing to help her constant state of  _ blushing _ .

Day one and she's already done for. There is no chance she's surviving this year, not with people like Lance on the team. Why the heck was there a Greek god on Matt's water polo team?

The team practiced every day after classes, plus Mondays at six, and games on weekends. Not to mention the monthly trips to other universities for tournaments. That was significantly more hours of watching shirtless men frolic then she needed in her life.

How was she ever going to survive?

The sound of laughter causes her to open her eyes, and find Matt and Lance walking towards her. She stands a little too quickly, readjusting her sweatshirt.

“Hey Pidgeon! You’ve met Lance right?”

She nods, offering Lance a shy smile. “Yeah, before practice.” She grabs the strap of her duffel bag, kicking it with her foot. “Can we skedaddle? This thing weighs a ton and I’ve got loads of homework.”

Matt raises a brow. “Weren’t you supposed to study during practice?”

Her cheeks flush, and she looks anywhere but her brother and his good looking companion. “I was, uh, a little distracted, you know, learning the ropes and meeting new people. So much new information.”

“Whatever you say Pidgeon.” She can tell by his tone that he doesn’t believe her, but he doesn’t push. “Bag can go in the trunk.”

She huffs, moving to pick up the bag when a hand reaches for the strap. She looks up in surprise and meet's Lance's blue eyes.

"Let me."

"Oh no, I got it," She stammers, all too aware of their proximity.

Lance gently pries her fingers off of the handle, his hand lingering on hers for a moment longer than necessary. "I insist." He winks at her before slinging the bag over his shoulder with ease and sauntering to the trunk of the car.

So he's hot  _ and  _ a gentleman. This raises the stakes slightly. She takes a moment to wonder how a man could look so quickening good in sweatpants and a tee shirt. "What a hot guy," she murmurs under her breath. A dull pain on her forehead makes her scowl at her brother. "Hey!"

Matt flicks her again, crossing his arms. "Stop ogling our exchange student."

She gasps defensively. "I was not—wait what?"

The smile that slowly spreads on her brother’s face is nothing less of devious. "That 'hot guy—'" he uses her exact words, and she flushes. "—is Lance McClain. The exchange student from Cuba who's staying with us. You know the one who’s here on a sports scholarship?"

Matt trails off, giving Katie a final pat on the head before hopping in the car, Lance following suit, offering her a smile before climbing in. She watches in dismay as they begin chatting like old pals, her eyes meeting Lance’s as he looks back and waves. 

_ Oh quizanck _ .

  
  



	2. two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> His gaze flicks behind her, and her face flushes as she remembers the state of her room. “Woah, did a tornado hit or something?” 
> 
> Katie glares. “No, it’s an organized chaos.” 
> 
> Lance chuckles softly. “Right, whatever you say.” He gives her a soft smile. “Well, goodnight then.” 
> 
> She returns it. “Night.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter two! not as much oogling as i would have liked, bc for some reason a plot started to take shape? i mean whats up with that man? 
> 
> anyways, thanks a ton to @ashkazora for the beta! ur the best!

“Lance, honey. Help yourself to some more pasta.” Colleen beams at the newest addition to their family dinner. Lance smiles gratefully. 

“Don’t mind if I do, Mrs. Holt.” 

“Oh please dear, call me Colleen.” 

Lance smiles, accepting the spoonful of pasta. He takes a big bite, moaning in satisfaction. “It’s delicious.” 

Katie’s mom lets out a laugh, her eyes twinkling. “Oh honey, if you think flattery is going to get you out of chores, you’re sorely mistaken.” 

“Pardon?” he gulps down his food, and Katie and Matt share a look. 

“Chores!” From under the table, Colleen pulls out her overflowing three inch binder, slamming it on the table. Sam facepalms. “From now until you’re not living under my roof, you shall be part of the chore binder.” 

As she drones on, Katie takes great pleasure in watching Lance visibly pale as he tries to keep up with her mom's explanation. He shoots Matt a desperate look but her brother, bless his soul, just shrugs and continues eating. 

“Don’t worry,” Colleen concludes, smiling, “as long as you follow the numbers and color coordinated labels, you should be fine!” 

“Color coordinated?” Lance asks meekly and Matt scoffs. 

“But of course!” 

“We’re not animals!” the rest of the family chimes in unison. Lance looks absolutely petrified. 

“Lance, we’re just having fun,” Katie's mom says, taking pity on the poor boy. “I’m just playing hon!” She smiles sweetly. “Now give me your plate and Matt will show you to your room.” 

Lance hands her his clean dish, as Katie explodes into laughter, Matt not far behind. 

“Dude! She got you good!” He brother says between gulps of air. “Don’t sweat, she’s just trying to exert her dominance.” 

Sam takes off his glasses, cleaning them off. “Don’t worry son, she does that to everyone. It means she likes you.” 

Lance gulps, running a hand through his hair. “So no chores?” 

“Oh no, there’ll be chores,” Katie pipes up. “but it’s nothing like what she described. On the weekends we just tidy everything up, takes an hour max.” 

“And you’ll have to join in the mandatory ‘who cleans the bathroom’ video game tournament with Katie and I. Or else you automatically forfeit.” Matt adds, and Lance's eyes light up. 

“Oh I assure you, I won’t be cleaning any bathroom any time soon.” 

Katie raises a brow. “That confident, huh?” 

Lance smirks at her. “Oh please, I could beat you in my sleep.” 

“Really?” she ignores the flutter in her stomach. “I guess we’ll see.” 

Matt downs the last of his milk, slamming the cup onto the counter and standing. “Well, let's get you set up!” Katie follows them up the stairs to Matt’s bedroom. She’s not sure why, but no one says anything about it. 

“You’ll be sleeping in my room. That door leads to the bathroom.” Matt leads them into the bathroom, and points to a door on the other side. “That door leads to Katie's room. A word of advice; make sure you lock both doors before doing any business. It can lead to some, uhm,  _ awkward _ encounters.” 

Katie feels her face heat up. “Please do. I’m still scarred.” 

Lance clears his throat and Matt shows him his drawer, shelf and towel, ending the tour with, “If you need anything, just ask.” His eyes flick to where Katie is escaping through her door. “And where are you off to?” 

“I’ve got a half-finished robot on my table with my name on it,” she shoots back, closing the door, relieved to be in her own room, away from all hot Cuban boys. 

“One of the struggles of having a genius for a sister,” she hears Matt explain through the door. “always working on something.” 

Lance mumbles something in response, and the two boys laugh loudly. Katie makes her way through her mess of a room to her desk where she cracks her knuckles and gets to work. 

A knock on her door jerks her out of her project. Her eyes dart to the clock. 11:45.  _ Oh quiznack _ . 

She shuffles to the door, opening it to reveal a sleepy Lance. His brow furrows in confusion, taking in her in all her pajama glory before his eyes widen. “Oh, sorry,” he rubs the back of his neck, “I thought this was my room.” 

Katie laughs, shaking her head. “Nope, that would be one door down.” 

He follows her finger, a blush dusting his cheeks. “Right.” He stands there, and she can’t help but notice how adorable he looks, slightly messed up hair, lion slippers, his eyes droopy and tired. His gaze flicks behind her, and her face flushes as she remembers the state of her room. “Woah, did a tornado hit or something?” 

Katie glares. “No, it’s an organized chaos.” 

Lance chuckles softly. “Right, whatever you say.” He gives her a soft smile. “Well, goodnight then.” 

She returns it. “Night.” 

When she gets into bed, she tries to ignore how fast her heart is beating. 

  
  


*

The next few days passed without incident;, no unexpected late night visitors, and life returned to a semi-normal state for Katie. Go to class, eat lunch, study, go to practice, go home, eat dinner, chill out, sleep. 

She checks the time, 2:35 pm, and hauls out her medical bag from the backseat of Matt's car before beginning her trek to the pool. 

“Hey! Katie!” She looks behind her and sees Lance and Keith running to catch up. “What’s popping?” 

“Uh, nothing much I guess,” She adjusts the shoulder strap of the bad to make it more comfortable as the three of them begin walking together. She’s about to ask how his day has been when a stampede of footsteps behind her causes her to pause. 

“Oh  _ Laaance _ ,” a nasally voice calls out behind them, and the trio turns to see a swarm of girls behind them. Keith facepalms but Lance just smiles brightly at the girls. 

“Well hello there ladies,” he crosses his arms. “what brings you here this fine evening?” 

“Oh you know, just passing by,” the girl in the front, tall, curled hair, the source of most of the squeaking, says with a giggle. Katie rolls her eyes at the obvious lie, but it doesn’t seem to faze Lance. 

“Really? Well I guess you could call it fate that we bumped into each other!” His grin just oozes charm and charisma, and one look at Keith tells her this wasn’t a one time occurrence. 

“This happens a lot?” she asks as Lance says something loudly, followed by a chorus of simpering laughter. 

Keith gives her a weary glance. “It’s the third time this week.” 

For some reason hearing this darkens her mood, and she checks her phone for the time. Keith does the same, letting out a soft groan before approaching Lance and wrapping an arm around his shoulders. 

“It's time to go.” There was no flirting in his voice, just the plain old facts. Katie respects that. 

The swarm, however, is not deterred. “Are you off to practice?” the one of them pouts, latching onto his arm. “So soon?” 

“Sorry ladies,” Lance says with a smile. “But this body doesn’t make itself.” 

Katie swears she sees the group of girls swoon, and the leader bats her eyelashes at him. “Oh please, skipping one practice isn’t such a big deal right?” 

Lance begins to respond but Keith cuts him off. “Normally sure, but since you’ve revealed your plans to skip in front of the siblings of the captains, tough luck.” 

The girls’ stares travel from Keith to Katie and she swears she sees one of them actually growl at her. 

“Whatever,” one of the ladies in the back scoffs, “we’ll let you get back to it hot stuff.” 

“Don’t encourage him,” Keith sighs, glaring at the troupe of girls, “I’m not sure he’d be able to survive if his ego grows any larger.” 

“No, please continue,” Lance smiles charmingly at the girl who had spoken. “Pidge here never compliments me, I would appreciate the boost in moral” 

“Don’t I?” Katie mutters, patting her pockets. “I’m sure I have that list of your best qualities you gave me around here somewhere…” she sticks a hand in her coat, pulling it out one finger raised. “Found it.” 

Lance feigns hurt, clasping a hand to his chest and gasping, but his eyes dance with mirth. “You wound me.” 

She ignores the way his gaze lingers as she turns and stalks away with Keith. He eyes her suspiciously. “You alright?” 

“Of course,” she mumbles. “Why wouldn’t I be?” 

They walk the rest of the way in silence, parting ways at the pool entrance.

Katie sets herself up on the bleachers, duffel bag on one side, her pile of textbooks on the other. A loud hoot announces the arrival of the team, and she allows herself to admire Lance as he elegantly begins to stretch out. His muscle shirt rode up, showing off his taut stomach.  _ Definitely _ drool worthy. After team huddle, the boys head to the pool, stripping down and giving her another glorious eyeful of abs and butt. 

By now she’s become accustomed to tuning out the sound of their practice, no longer letting herself become distracted by the shirtless men frolicking in the pool. But sometimes she likes to reward herself with a peek. 

Her gaze flicks up from her book and watches as Lance emerges from the water like some Cuban whale, ball in hand, muscles flexing. There is nothing but pure determination in his eyes, until they lock with hers and widen, his grip slipping, as he falls unceremoniously into the pool. She lets out a giggle, turning back to her studying.

Practice was surprisingly uneventful, no injuries so far. It wasn’t like she was disappointed no one was stupid enough to get hurt, she was just bored. Her pencil taps idly on her paper. 

She’s almost through plotting how to convince her mom to let her buy some laser tweezers when a pair of feet appear in her view. 

Her eyes trail up lean tan legs, familiar abs and stop at blue eyes. 

Lance, in all his wet, shirtless glory, stands before her, his hand cupping his wrist gingerly. “Hi,” he says, his smile turning quickly into a wince, “I think I need some medical attention.” 

She shoves her textbooks aside, making room for him to sit next to her and gently begins to inspect his wrist. She sighs, turning back to grab her supplies from her bag. “I think you overextended the muscle,” She explains as she grabs a tensor bandage. “Rest for at least 48 hours, which shouldn’t be a problem since we don’t have practice tomorrow.” 

He gives her a nod, his teeth digging into his bottom lip. “Do you have any Advil?” 

“Not in this bag,” she confirms, after a quick look through the duffel, “but in the car I do. I’ll grab some when I get you some ice.” 

Lance shoots her a grateful smile. 

“So, what happened?” She asked, partly to distract him from the pain, partly because she was curious. Lance has never been one of her patients before.

Lance’s cheeks flush and he looks down at his toes. “Ah, well I was trying to, uh, do a trick.” 

“A trick?” she asks, suddenly amused. “Trying to impress the ladies or something?” 

“Something like that,” he mumbles. 

“Well I’m sorry anyways,” she says, holding back a snicker. 

“It’s worth it.” He grimaces as she pulls tight. 

“What is?” she asks, reaching into her bag for her a fastener. “The pain or the blast to your ego?” 

“Either, both, anything really,” his tone is tight, but his eyes are sharp, focused. “As long as you’re the one helping me.” 

Her hands pause their work and she feels her cheeks heat up, suddenly painfully aware of how close they were. 

“I’m sure you say that to all your girls,” she manages to sound nonchalant. 

She doesn’t miss the way his eyes soften as he shakes his head. “No. Just you.” 

They don’t say anything else after, her head bent down as she finishes her work, his eyes wandering to where his team is playing, their shouts echoing in the pool. 

Katie clears her throat and stands abruptly. “Let me grab you some ice,” she says, already walking away. 

“Let me come with you!” Lance calls after her, but she shakes her head. 

“No, Matt and Shiro would kill me if I dragged a member away from practice.” 

It’s a lame excuse, she knows, but she lets out a sigh of relief as Lance sits back down, his gaze returning to the pool. He looks back. “I’ll be waiting for you.” 

Her face is warm, and her heart is beating wildly, but she is giddy, skipping to the car. The Advil is where she thought it would be, so she’s quickly back in the building, heading into the pool office for a bag of ice before speed walking to the bleachers. She’s smiling so widely her cheeks hurt, just the thought of Lance waiting for her making her want to jump in circles. 

She rounds the corner, only to stop in her tracks at the sight before her; Lance, his back to her, his injured wrist in the manicured hands of another girl, clearly enjoying the attention. 

She gulps, her shoulders slumping, tears of disappointment threatening to fall.  _ Don’t be stupid, _ she chastises, willing the tears away.  _ You just rushed to conclusions like always. _

The girl says something and Lance laughs, turning slightly and catching her eye. She gives him the biggest smile she can muster, walking up to the pair. 

“Katie! You’re back!” 

“Yeah. She places the bottle of Advil on the bleachers. “Take one, two if the pain is really bad. The ice will help with the swelling.” 

The girl takes the ice from her hands, giving her a dismissive glare. “Thanks, we're good.” 

Lance opens his mouth to protest, but Katie cuts him off. “Cool. I’ll be over there.” 

She points to the other side of the pool, about as far away from the duo as she could go, before retreating, grabbing her textbooks and notes from beside Lance. As she walks away, her grip falters and a few papers fall to the deck, soaking up the pool water. 

“Poor girl, so clumsy,” She hears behind her, and her face burns with shame. She doesn’t stick around long enough to hear Lance’s reply. 

Katie throws herself into her work for the remainder of practice, and when Matt blows his whistle signaling the end, she stays there a little longer, waiting until everyone cleared out before retrieving her duffel bag and going to the car. 

“Home then?” Matt asks loudly as he climbs into the driver's seat, Lance not far behind. 

“No, just drop me off at the library,” she says, staring out the window. “I need to study.” 

Matt gives her a concerned glance through the rear view mirror, but she just sinks further down into her seat, listening to Lance and Matt’s idle chatter. True to his word, her brother drops her off at the library, reminding her not to stay out too late. Lance offers to pick her up once she’s done, but she politely declines. 

The library is one of her favorite spaces at  _ Garrison U, _ full of little nooks and crannies she can escape in. The perfect place to study and forget about everything that’s happened. 

She doesn’t know why seeing Lance with that girl bothered her so much. It wasn’t like they were dating or anything, but something about it rubbed her the wrong way. Sighing, Katie takes out her notes and flips open her textbooks before sliding on her headphones and tuning the world out. 

As she goes over formulas and chemical structures, she begins to relax, falling into the familiar rhythm of school work. It was easy, like an old friend, unlike the Lance situation. That was all new and scary and uncharted territory.

She’s jerked out of her thoughts as her headphones are yanked off of her head, and Katie glares up at the offender, realizing it's the girl Lance was with earlier, backed with her troupe. 

“Well well well, if it isn’t the little bitch.” 

Katie bristles. “Excuse me?” 

“You heard me,” she scoffs. “Or are you deaf  _ and  _ stupid?” 

“Okay, look,” Katie picks her headphones off of the floor, before staring the girl directly in the eyes. “I think you have the wrong person.” 

“So now you’re calling  _ me  _ stupid?” Katie groans. This girl was not getting it. “Lance McClain is  _ mine _ .” Lance? That was what this was about? Now she’s even more confused. The girl sticks a manicured nail into her mouth and fishes out her gum before sticking in in the center of Katies notes. “And if you think a short nerdy piece of trash like yourself can take him away from me, then you're sorely mistaken.” 

The words hit home, and despite her best efforts, Katie flinches, saying nothing as the girls parade away in a fit of giggles. She waits until they’re out of sight before packing up her own stuff, the ruined notes tossed in the trash. 

She makes it three steps from the library entrance before the tears begin to fall, hot and wet on her cheeks. She swipes at them furiously, determined not to get caught as she quickens her pace home. 

Who was she to care what those girls thought of her? She’s smarter than all of them combined. And  _ Lance _ ? Well he was just the guy staying at her house for the time being. Sure, he was hot and kind and goofy, but he was just a friend, if that. 

She sighs, sniffling, turning her gaze to the night sky. It was beautiful, a full moon surrounded by dozens of tiny sparkling lights. When she’d been younger, her and Matt would have competitions, seeing who could memorize the most. The memory makes her smile as she rounds the driveway to her home. 

Outside the front door, she takes a few deep breaths before taking a big sniffling breath and opening it. Lance is stretched out on the couch, his feet sticking off one end, reading a book. He looks up when he hears her enter. 

“Katie! Your parents and Matt went out for--” He stops, and she senses his gaze. “Hey, are you okay?” 

She gives her eyes one last wipe for good measure before looking up, a huge smile plastered on her face. “Never better, why?” 

He frowns, getting up and crossing the room and examining her face. “You’ve been crying.” 

“What? No!” she can’t even convince herself. “It’s just been a rough day.” 

Lance nods, making his way to the kitchen and for some reason she can’t explain she follows him. There’s a pot on the stove when she enters, and he’s stirring it gently. 

“I’m assuming you haven’t eaten anything yet,” he explains, shrugging. “I mean, Matt said when you're stressed you forget to eat and stuff, so I thought I’d whip something up.” 

She blinks, feeling a tear roll down her cheek. She’s gone her whole life not caring about what others thought of her and yet somehow her tough skin had disappeared within a week. Talk about humiliating. 

“Hey, Katie,” 

She looks up to see Lance watching her. He’s taken out a box of Rice Krispies at some point, and instead of looking back at him, she focuses on the faces of Snap, Crackle and Pop, all gathered happily around a big cereal bowl. “I’m sorry,” she says, because for some reason, even with the cartoon distractions, she was still crying. “It’s stupid, I shouldn’t even be making a huge deal about this... “ 

He puts the box down and comes over to the opposite side of the island. He doesn’t try to reach out for her or touch her. He just stands there as he says, “What’s stupid?” 

She swallows, heat rising to her cheeks. “Nothing, nothing!” God, she’s still blubbering. Her voice is all choked, coming out in little gaspy sobs. 

Lance just says, “You know you can talk to me right?” 

“I know.” 

“I don’t mean now or whatever, just whenever you feel ready and want to talk, that’s all.” His hand reaches across the counter, his fingers brushing with hers. “I mean it.” 

Katie shoots him a grateful smile, not pulling her hand away. “I know.” 

He just stands there, looking at her with a soft smile, his eyes still blue as the ocean, even in the horrible lighting. Katie feels her stomach doing little flip flops under his gaze, 

There is a sudden crackling  _ pop _ from the stove, and Lance looks over his shoulder. “Whoops,” he says, turning back to the saucepan and pulling it off the heart. “One sec, let me just finish these.” 

Katie takes her hand off the counter, her fingers still feeling the ghost of his. “What are you doing over there anyways?” 

“Making Rice Krispie treats.” 

It seems so odd and out of place, that she almost laughs. “Why?” 

“Because my dear Pidgeon,” he waves his arms in a dramatic flourish. “It’s what mama always did when my sisters were crying.” He glances back at her, his hands dropping to his sides. “I don’t know, you were upset and it just seemed… “

He trails off, one hand scratching the back of his neck, his cheeks slightly flushed.

“...perfect,” she finishes for him. “It’s perfect.” 

*

Of course, nothing is really perfect. But Lance’s Rice Krispie treats were pretty close. They ate half the pan before Lance pushed the rest at her, claiming she was trying to fatten him up. She just rolled her eyes and moved the treats to the table. Before she knew it, they were sitting on the couch, and she was leaning on his shoulder as a movie plays on the television. 

Something in her brain tells her it's a terrible idea, that she’s doing exactly what she  _ shouldn’t  _ do, but she couldn’t bring herself to care. Somehow it just feels right. 

Her eyelids begin to droop, and she moves to get up but Lance's arm holds her firmly in place. She’s too tired to protest, so she just snuggles into his side, savoring his warmth. 

The next morning, she wakes up in her own bed, a neatly wrapped package of Rice Krispy treats on her bedside table. She can’t help the smile that spreads across her face. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as always, comments are very welcome!

**Author's Note:**

> thoughts? comments? id love to hear it all!


End file.
